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Outlets

Original post made
by Mal, Del Prado,
on Nov 12, 2012

Hope they hurry up with that stoneridre extension, what a nightmare at times this weekend at valley and Santa Rita with all the commuters and shoppers cutting through town to avoid the freeway backups, red light runners were the norm all weekend, what's the rush???

Comments (15)

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Posted by A Neighbor
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 12, 2012 at 6:42 pm

Those backups are precisely why I hope Stoneridge is never extended. I was once a big supporter of the extension and the inclusion of that work in the general plan, but now I see that the traffic generated by the outlets will end up multiplying cut through traffic on Pleasanton streets, making everyone in town miserable.

Posted by DavidA
a resident of Amador Valley High School
on Nov 12, 2012 at 8:27 pm

I can not wait for Stoneridge to be connected. It was built as a four lane divided arterial roadway for a reason --to handle traffic as Livermore, Dublin AND Pleasanton finishes its development for planned construction approved years ago.
Backups on I580 and I680 have caused across-town traffic to funnel to Valley Avenue and Sunol/First Street for years now. The entire west side of town is gridlocked when emergencies like an overturn big rig occur. Stoneridge will give drivers another option that was designed for that purpose, and give the rest of us residents some relief.

Stoneridge residents as well as the rest of the community need to join together to voice support for El Charro Extention to Stanley Blvd. as the next big relief valve that will circumvent traffic around Pleasanton as well as Highway 84 widening.

It has been reported elsewhere that the extension is a done deal and will be completed within a year. (And no, it won't be restricted to buses and emergency vehicles.) If that is true, I wonder if our city traffic engineer can rerun his analysis on the Stoneridge Drive extension (you know, the one that basically said "No worries, mate!") with following updates: (a) KGO reported that 350,000 visitors came to the outlets over the 4 day weekend period, (b) W London was extended by Livermore but is only a 2 lane road, (c) El Charro's new offramps were underbuilt as well, (d) Prop B1 didn't pass - meaning no additional $$ to enable BART to Livermore, or a W580 to S680 flyover, or further widening of Vallecitos/84 from Isabel to 680, (e) there has been no hint of Livermore/Dublin connecting Dublin Blvd to Canyons Pkwy to provide a much needed alternative NORTH of 580 as well, and (f) it doesn't appear that El Charro will be connected to Stanley anytime soon either. If anyone has definitive updates on any of these, please share.

Pleasanton gets criticized by other towns for NIMBY-ism, but unless a lot of things fall into place along with the Stoneridge extension, I for one remain throughly unconvinced that it will (a) not result in gridlock on Stoneridge nor (b) alleviate any congestion on Valley/Santa Rita/downtown. If you build it, they will "cut-through".

Posted by reasonable
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 13, 2012 at 11:53 am

Went to the outlets this weekend, but arrived at opening time -- no problem!! Also, most of the people at the malls were there looking not buying. Lots of curiosity. I think once people realize these are higher end outlets and there are not a lot of bargain basemenet finds to be had, the numbers will die down a bit and it will be more of the serious hoppers rather than those looking for a weekend outing. I don't think this will be a permanent traffic problem.

That said, I think the Stoneridge extension is a great idea. Yes, Stoneridge will end up with more traffic, but anything that spreads out the traffic can only be a good thing. Those that fear it have to realize that having more roads won't magically cause the cars to start multiplying. It will just make it easier to get down 580, or 680, or Stanley.

Posted by Why delay ??
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 13, 2012 at 12:42 pm

I don't understand why there is such a delay in opening Stoneridge Dr. It could be done by now. Haven't they run out of excuses to delay?? It's really a crime that a perfectly good road is an idle dead-in to nowhere, while many neighbors are suffering gridlock. Even the worst kind of selfish, close-minded nimby can't defend gridlock, waste of gas, and waste of man hours. There is no justification.

Posted by Zit on the Butt
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 13, 2012 at 2:39 pm

Opening Stoneridge will be about most stupid thing that Pleasanton has done in decades.

We need to figure out some toll that can be charged to make Livermore residents pay through the nose to cut through Pleasanton. Livermore just keeps building and building but they don't put in roads to handle the additional traffic. Livermore is becoming a zit on the butt of the Tri-Valley.

Posted by Why delay ??
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 13, 2012 at 3:11 pm

To Zit, more like a thorn, FIRST selfish newbee,we let you in. If you and your team wanted dead-in streets, you should have located in dead-end, gridlocked Berkeley, since you like that model SO much. Had YOU been here 30 years ago, you would know, a new wide Stoneridge Drive to the East, was part of the plan to serve Hacienda Business Park as the best route for all those new workers, living in Livermore. (except for 25 yrs they've been forced to take the long way around & thru Pleasanton. This is called the TRI-Valley.
You didn't have to choose here, when Eastern connection to our neighbors in shouting distance, has always been planned.
You are treading in very dangerous territory.. you best not go there. You are a selfish zealot. So Butt, but out! Your term here, could be VERY SHORT !

The delay to Stoneridge has been due to the residents at that dead end. Who buys a home on a major throughfare and thinks it will stay a deadend? DUH! Just like those that buy near railroad tracks and then complain about the noise. I looked at the new houses down that end of Stoneridge in the 1997 timeframe and chose not to purchase because I knew the street would not be a deadend indefinitely.

As for charging tolls to Livermore...the same can be said for their charging tolls. With all the retail that Pleasanton seems to be passing up we'll be driving into Livermore and Dublin than the other way around. Hacienda Business space is empty and the city is losing the tax revenue while the cities that surround us are growing and getting sales tax revenues. What's up? I'm all for the hometown feel but that doesn't pay the bills.

I'm not a fan of the Stoneridge Mall - it's one teen store after another with the anchor stores being too small too provide enough variety.

I am not so sure the Stoneridge extension is not going to create a much larger problem. Stoplights will need to be added at Newton Way, Guzman Parkway, and one more. That means 5 stop lights after you cross Santa Rita and before you even get to El Charro. I think traffic will back up onto Santa Rita and block it as well.

Posted by More Roads
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 13, 2012 at 9:06 pm

Maybe we should fix this East Coast style and request an "Infrastructure" handout?

It wouldn't be such a traffic nightmare if there was more than one way in and one way out. That is true for the entire strip of the Tri-Valley along 580. Paragon and BART plus commuting from Tracy etc. its just too much for what is there now. Our family had no problems getting in and out of Pleasanton via Stanley. Which btw instead of spending money on infrastructure for 130 new stores… on Stanley Blvd you can now sit on a bench to look at cars whizzing by, run down train cars and a gravel pit. Come on people who doesn't want to walk to Shadow Cliffs now!?

My husband and I were amazed at the traffic on Vineyard tonight!!! Unbelieveable! In the 12 years we have been here we have never seen anything like it! It was bumper to bumper from Vineyard to Santa Rita. The only thing we could think of is that people were either avoiding the 580 traffic to the outlets or they were *going* to the outlets. The other thing we thought of was what this would do to the Stoneridge Mall and... to Stoneridege Drive. If all those commuters are trying to avoid the outlet traffic, they will go down Stoneridge Drive to find a shortcut. No matter how you look at it, it's not great for Pleasanton.

Posted by Nancy s.
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 17, 2012 at 8:13 am

@wow...if you have lived on this side of town for 12 years like I have, you have seen traffic like that. Dont you remember when vineyard was 2 lanes from bernal out to the nursery? It was awful. Changing it to one lane with the planters, changing sauterne to oneway southbound helped as well. hwy 84 improvements help as well.
Bottom line is, when freeways back up, drivers use surface streets. I do it all the time. No matter what city or town I am driving through. Because ptown is at the intersection if 2 major freeways we may see it more frequent.

I dont think the traffic engineers truly thought about the problems the new mall would cause. The freeway backup because of the one lane off ramp isnt a good thing. Imagine what it will be like for xmas shopping. Additional throughfares to the mall would help, like the stoneridge road extension, and connecting el charro south to stanley blvd.

You guys that live in the past have to step into the now and today. The population of the world is rapidly growing. The population of the tri valley is growing. Traffic is growing. How many cars do you own? Our streets and roadways have to change to accomadate the increase. Why should you be immune to added traffic in your neighboorhood when I am not? Especially since the stoneridge extension was aproved decades ago.

Posted by Why delay ??
a resident of Another Pleasanton neighborhood
on Nov 17, 2012 at 3:50 pm

Nancy, it was probably a group of Berkeley-type of small minded "keep traffic out, by just allowing ONE lane"" attitudes. That type always botch it up, making matters 'worse' than doing it 'right' in the first place. People who don't like new roads, should NEVER, NEVER be on any road committee, because their 'tiny' thinking causes much BIGGER problems.
Beware, East side committee, of ' tiny ' thoughts, wasting more money and time, with tiny experiments, that in the end have to be made right.

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